Little-known Danish golfer Lucas Bjerregaard hopes his surname will no longer be mispronounced as 'beer garden', after toppling Tiger Woods in the quarter-finals of the World Golf Championships Match Play.
Bjerregaard, a 27-year-old who plays on the European Tour, came up with several big plays down the stretch to defeat 14-time Major winner Woods one-up.
Bjerregaard bagged an eagle on the par-five 16th hole to level the match, hitting his second shot from 236 yards to 29 feet and draining the putt, with Woods only managing birdie.
After both birdied the par-three 17th, Woods uncharacteristically flubbed his second shot at the short par-four 18th into a greenside bunker, but recovered with a sublime sand shot.
However, Woods then missed a four-foot par putt to hand Bjerregaard a passage into Sunday's semifinals, where he'll meet American Matt Kuchar.
Bjerregaard says he grew up idolising Woods and was nervous on Friday night, when he discovered he could meet his hero in Saturday afternoon's quarter-finals.
"I dreamt about playing against Tiger, but I didn't think it was ever going to come true," Bjerregaard said.
"I definitely noticed Friday night, who I could potentially play against.
"It was an incredible experience for me to play with Tiger and see what he plays in front of every day."
A two-time winner on the European Tour, Bjerregaard said American fans were still learning about him.
He heard some entertaining mispronunciations of his surname from the galleries at Austin Country Club.
"I've heard 'Beer Garden', and seen people lifting their beer up in the air and saying, 'This is you, man'," Bjerregaard said.
"I've heard all sorts of things, especially this afternoon, where I think they've had a few [beers]."
World number 14 Woods was visibly devastated at being knocked out of the US$10.25 million (NZ$15m) event, which he has won three times, by an opponent 38 places below him on the world rankings.
"[Bjerregaard] played well in tough conditions," said Woods. "He played the last three holes pretty solidly."
Earlier in the day, Woods took down world number four Rory MciIlroy two-and-one to send the Northern Irishmen home in the round of 16.
With the Masters at Augusta National less than two weeks away, Woods will take confidence from making it to the final eight in a match-play tournament featuring 64 of the top 66 golfers in the world.
Even if the 43-year-old was too shattered to say it.
"It's a little hard for me to take that in perspective at this moment right now, I just walked off the golf course," Woods said.
"I don't know right now [about Masters preparation]. You've got to give me a little time to calm down."
AAP.
